Eye Candy for Today: Jacob van Walscapelle still life

In the Rijksmuseum. Image is zoomable (and downloadable if you get a free account). Also a downloadable (but I think oersaturated) image here.

Not only is this beautifully composed and rendered, with the fruits and stems gradually revealing themselves as you peer into the darker corners, I love the dedication to reality (and perhaps allegory) in the presence of the damaged or dried individual fruits, as well as the attendant insects and snail.

Look at the shadows the grapes cast on each other, and the variation in light and dark along the winding stems. A marvel of value relationships and restrained color.

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2 Replies to “Eye Candy for Today: Jacob van Walscapelle still life”

Beautiful! Thank you, Charlie.
Interesting that with such attention to detail this painting had to have been done from studies as the different fruits and nuts ripened and became available. I see red currants, grapes, chestnuts and cherries; all with weeks, if not months, separating their fruiting. Quite an achievement considering the masterful end result.